Hosted by Edmund Bacon, a man who a) blinks way too much and b), yes, is really Kevin Bacon's Dad (look it up if you don't believe me), this fascinating film tells of how Philadelphia was redeveloped thanks to Bacon and many other architects. Each of them have their own say, and then introduce another one, which is a terribly amusing way to do things. sort of a night of 1000 stars approach. As well, they outline what they did on this HUGE mural, each of them drawing little representations of their work. It's really an amazing way to do things, and kept me interested. Unfortunately, this film IS an hour, and could really have been cut down. But still what a film this was.

Fascinating, heartbreaking 1962 presentation by architect Edmund Bacon (the Robert Moses of Philadelphia) on the ambitious master plan for the postwar redevelopment of Center City. You don't have to have grown up in Center City, as I did, to feel the poignance here. Some of the plan's elements (the broad-scale redevelopment of Society Hill as a residential district) were successfully put into place; others (I.M. Pei's fourth and fifth Society Hill Towers) weren't; some were implemented piecemeal, and some, like Penn Center, the Chestnut St. pedestrian walk and Market East, just never reached the level of success and livability the planners dreamed of. Overall it's a heart-tugging snapshot of a time in the postwar life of American cities when resources seemed limitless, the future seemed bright, and no urban problems seemed too intractable to be solved by smart guys with good intentions.